The TO7C has just arrived in Paris airport (OE3GCU missing on picture)
from l to r : F8BJI, F9IE, F6EGG, F5AGB, F5TVG, F4AJQ, F6AML, F5PED, F5VHQ
The TO7C log is now online HERE
You can also have a look at our PICTURE GALLERYand read the STORY
TO7C QSO detail by band and mode on 17/03/2005 @ 1526z
18th March 2005
25,247 QSO are in the log with 126 DXCC entities.
The team is currently on its way back home.
The log will be online shortly along with the story of DXpedition.
The TO7C team checking in luggage in Cayenne
17th March 2005 TO7C went QRT at 1526z
The last contact was on 12m in PSK31 with PA0JHM
The team began packing the antennas and stations very early,
but the temperature was already 30°C (86°F) at 08:00am local.
Two stations remained active :
- one on the 11 elts log periodic until 1400z.
- one on the MA5V vertical until 1526z.
They took the boat heading back to Kourou at 1600z and will sleep there.
Tomorrow morning, they will visit the space center and then meet with
local hams in Cayenne for lunch. Their flight back to Paris is on Friday
late afternoon with a scheduled arrival in Paris at 07:00am on Saturday.
16th March 2005
21,987 QSO were in the log at 0900z.
The team experienced a good 17m opening yesterday,
particularily to Asia. We now have 410 QSO with JA stations,
mainly on 17 and 40m.
We remind digimode stations (mainly those using RTTY) that
you should only call TO7C if you hear them. The team manages to
receive lots of stations calling them, but that never reply when
they send them a report.
Tonight will be the last one on Royale island for the team.
They will start packing the equipment after sunrise while
traffic will keep going on a limited number of stations.
The last contacts are expected on 17/03 around 1430z.
Still nothing on 6m despite a local QSO with FY1FL.
The beacon TX on 50.096 QTF 170° QSX 50.200
Reminder : The TO7C log will only be online when the team will be back in France.
15th March 2005
19,329 QSO were in the log at 1100z.
The QSO rate is still good with a strong improvement on the
higher bands. We still have a lot of atmospheric noise on the
low bands due to nearby lightning storms.
Some strong wind last night damaged the 11 elts log periodic,
it took a couple of hours to the operators this morning to fix it.
Yesterday good opening on 15m allowed 40 SSTV QSOs.
Today, the traffic focus will be on:
15/20m CW, 17/10m SSB and possibly 10m FM (29.450) if conditions are good.
Everything is going well on Royale Island despite difficult conditions
on the higher bands. Openings to Eastern Asia and Pacific
are still very short, we now have QSO: 198 JA, 22 VK, 23 ZL
Yesterday FY5HE and FY5FU visited the group and brought them
some very appreciated water.
Thanks to them we now have some photos.
13th March 2005
11,707 QSO were in the log at 0800z.
The higher bands traffic will increase as the propagation is improving.
The first contacts with Japan took place mainly on 20, 30 and 40m.
Today the two wire log periodics will be turned to 350°.
This is not an easy task and will take a couple of hours!
Still no contacts on 6m. Today we will turn the antenna to 320°
and hope to reach the caribeans and United States.
12th March 2005
8,115 QSO were in the log at 0800z.
No problem to report on Royale Island. Improving propagation
conditions allowed the first contacts with JA and better openings
to VK/ZL. The QSB is very strong on 10/12/15 & 17m, operators
sometime need several minutes to get a complete callsign.
The low bands station is well working despite a strong static noise.
The 6m beacon is on since yesterday pointing alternatively
to SA/NA/Caribeans/AF/EU. Nothing heard yet. We keep trying!
11th March 2005
5,806 QSO were in the log at 1000z.
Everything is going well despite poor propagation to Asia/Pacific.
Specific efforts are still made towards these regions.
The V80 was installed yesterday with an additional
25m horizontal section on top making it an inverted L.
The receiving antenna was damaged by a storm last night,
all 160m traffic was made using TX antenna for RX.
The receiving loop will be repaired today.
80m traffic will begin tonight.
The 6 meters station will be installed today.
10th March 2005
4,127 QSO were in the log at 1200z.
The propagation seems to improve a little bit on the higher bands.
Conditions are still very difficult to east Asia and Pacific,
particular attention will be paid to these areas.
The second team has landed on the island at 1300z.
They will install the V80 and the receiving antennas this
afternoon allowing 80/160m traffic to begin tonight.
All stations will be active from tomorrow onwards.
from l to r : FY5HE, FY0EK, F6AML, F5PED, F5AGB, F4AJQ & FY friends
FY5YR, YL F6EGG
9th March 2005
3,100 QSOs were in the log today at 1500z.
The team will begin traffic on 10 and 12m if propagation allows it.
The other crew members (F4AJQ, F5AGB, F5PED, F6AML & YL F6EGG) left Paris
this morning taking the 80/160m antennas with them.
Traffic on these bands should begin tomorrow evening.
The propagation forecasts have been updated.
8th March 2005
The trafic began as planned on 07/03/05 around 1916z.
The team installed yesterday the first R7000, the 30m sloper and the 4 elts LPDA for 40m.
The trafic was on 20m digimodes, 30m CW and 40m SSB until the dawn.
1,000 QSOs were in the log this morning.
Today they will install the 2nd R7000 and the 11 elts LPDA.
The other members of the crew (F4AJQ, F5AGB, F5PED, F6AML & YL F6EGG) will leave
tomorrow morning from Paris.
6th March 2005
The pathfinder team left Paris Orly Airport
this morning and has well arrived in Cayenne (FY)
where they received a warm welcome by local hams.
They will stay in Kourou tonight and will take the boat
to Royale Island tomorrow morning.
The first QSO will take place tomorrow evening.
from l to r : OE3GCU, F8BJI, F5TVG, F5VHQ, F9IE
28th February 2005
The pathfinder team will leave at the end of this week and the balance of the crew will
join in the middle of next week. Propagation forecast have been updated based on the
latest solar index predictions.
4th February 2005
The final preparation meeting took place at F5VHQ/John's house in Paris.
The final details have been discussed between the pathfinders and the whole team.
The equipment has been splitted between both teams to match Air France allowance.
Traffic strategy has been agreed.
Team 1 will land on the Island on 7th of March
in the morning while team 2 will join on
10th of March in the morning.
FY5HE/André is strongly helping us for the
local logistics and the ground transport from
Cayenne to Kourou.
from l to r : F5AGB, F5VHQ, F6AML, F4AJQ, F9IE
F5PED, F5TVG
26th January 2005 The next preparation meeting will take place on Friday 4th of February
New sponsors are supporting us, thanks!
1st January 2005
The whole TO7C team wishes you a happy new year and great DX in 2005
We are 9 weeks ahead of departure
19th December 2004
A second preparation meeting took place at F5AGB/Bruno's house
We had a slight change in the team as F5CW/Dany had an unexpected issue,
he will be replaced by F5PED/Matthieu.
The preparation on site is moving quickly with the help of local hams.
The pages: The team and Equipment have been updated.
The group at work from l-to-r : F6AML, F8BJI, F4AJQ, F9IE, F5VHQ
F5TVG, F5AGB
2nd November 2004
The team is well preparing, we now have airline tickets
A group of 5 pathfinders (F9IE, F5TVG, F5VHQ, F8BJI and OE3GCU) will leave on
6th of March and will begin installing antennas.
A new map of French Guiana has been added here (Thanks to SP6NVK)
16th October 2004
The team met during the French HamExpo in Auxerre
from l to r: F8BJI, F5TVG, F5VHQ, F4AJQ, F5CW, F9IE, F5AGB
12th October 2004 The TO7C license has been issued by the French administration
10th October 2004 The first preparation meeting took place at F5AGB's house
The key points of the expedition have been defined and are now online here.